⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Ninth Circuit returns to a long-running dispute over commercial salmon fishing in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires federal plans for fisheries that need conservation and management. Amendment Sixteen creates a plan for salmon harvest in federal offshore waters, while Alaska regulates state waters. Because the salmon cross that line, two fishing groups say the Act's definition of a fishery requires the plan to account for all fishing on the stocks. They also challenge the plan's harvest-yield calculations and scientific basis. The Fisheries Service says its authority stops at federal waters and joint management was impracticable after Alaska declined to participate. The district court upheld the amendment; the groups appeal.

United Cook Inlet Drift Association, et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service, et al. (No. 25-5523) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, argued August 10, 2026.